Friday, July 02, 2010

Summer Homeschooling Rant

Today we discovered that Daughter the Older has lost some of her math skills, or is pretending that she can't remember. Given that I distinctly remember her 1st grade teacher, a strict nun, instructing me to help her rehearse her times tables and sign off on them, and then testing DTO on said tables, I think it's the latter.

She's been sentenced to a summer of remedial education via Mommy so she learns that 1. she's supposed to remember this stuff, and 2. never to pretend that she doesn't know EVER AGAIN.

Thus I'm wading through textbooks, curriculum, software...

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

I've found teaching resources come in distinct flavors.

1. OMG expensive homeschooling curriculum of the "tough" variety.2. Fluffy bunny entertaining "education" to make parents feel better about their kids spending all their time coloring.3. Fluffy bunny "educational" software sold according to its interactive qualities and last updated for Windows Me.4. "Conservative" (God I wish) curricula made for Bible thumpers specifically.5. Used school textbooks.

Gee, which one am I going to pick? Option number 5 please.

This is where it gets fun.

How does a person pick a textbook anyway? There's thousands available, especially once all the editions are considered.

That is until you get to the reading textbooks ratings, and see their criteria for the 1993 ratings.

Texas approved five basal reader series for local use beginning in 1993. All contain occultic, supernatural stories, for example, shamanism (witch doctor techniques) and irrational manipulation of nature. One series describes com­muni­cation with the dead. None uses genuine phonics.

They rank here in descending order from best to worst, based upon the proportion of occult to wholesome stories.